1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H11-250970 discloses a connector with a housing that has a terminal-accommodating portion for accommodating terminal fittings. Resiliently deformable locks are formed in the terminal-accommodating portion for locking the terminal fittings in the housing. An outer tube surrounds the terminal-accommodating portion and has an open front end, and a front retainer is detachably mountable on the terminal-accommodating portion through the opening in the outer tube. The front retainer includes deformation-preventing portions that engage the locks and prevent resilient deformation of the locks when the front retainer is mounted properly to the terminal accommodating portion.
FIG. 17 shows a front retainer 1 that can be used with a jig 2 to detach the front retainer 1 from a housing. The outer surface of the front retainer 1 has a jig catching projection 3, as shown in FIG. 17. The jig 2 is placed on a front end 4a of the outer tube 4 while the end of the jig 2 engages the jig catching portion 3. The jig 2 then is levered with the front end 4a as a fulcrum to move the front retainer 1 forward. However, the jig 2 is displaced from a forward-inclined posture shown in solid line in FIG. 17 to a backward-inclined posture shown in phantom line. This is a difficult movement in many situations due to a lack of room for the necessary lever action.
The present invention was developed in view of the above problem and an object thereof is to improve the operability of a jig.